In prior art practices most real time imaging sensors employed to develop signal information representing an optical field of view in the visible, infrared, or other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum, have been limited to a detection field of view typically having an aspect ratio of 4 by 3 or 1 by 1 in order to provide a signal output compatible with visual display on a television format type of monitor output customarily having an aspect ratio of 4 by 3.
However, with the advent of much improved imaging sensors, particularly of the infrared and charge coupled device types, new applications have been made possible involving non-repetitive scan of detection fields containing signal information producing a field of view having extraordinary aspect ratios which are not readily adaptable to visual display on the customarily employed monitor having a television type format with a conventional aspect ratio, such as 4 to 3, for example.
For example, one such recent new application employs a photoresponsive linear array employing a high speed scan in the vertical direction covering approximately 6.degree. of elevation in a field of view. The photoresponsive linear array is driven rotatably through 360.degree. of azimuth in a single ten second panoramic search mode of operation. The signal information thus developed in this non-repetitive scan provides a resultant field of view having an effective aspect ratio of 60 to 1, i.e., 360.degree. in azimuth, vs 6.degree. in elevation. Such a mode of rotational scan through 360.degree. finds many highly useful applications as in the scanning of a horizon, for example, but it presents much difficulty in adapting the resultant 60 to 1 aspect ratio of the field of view to a suitable visual display because the extraordinary high aspect ratio differs so radically from the conventional TV type monitor format having a conventional 4 to 3 aspect ratio.
Accordingly, a new means and system for converting such a high aspect ratio and also adapting the scan of such a system is required to produce the end result of a suitable visual display on a TV monitor type format having a conventional 4 to 3 aspect ratio, for example.